OUDEWATER – Sixteen dumped guinea pigs were found in a parking lot on Damweg in Oudewater. The animals were found by a woman walking her dog.
“She caught all the guinea pigs herself and put them in her car in a warm blanket,” says Mechtild Stavenuiter of Stichting Dierenhulpverlening Woerden and surroundings. The woman then called the foundation, after which an animal ambulance picked up the guinea pigs.
It concerns two females and fourteen young guinea pigs. Nine of the young animals were still lactating. “The driver of the animal ambulance was also shocked that this could happen,” said Stavenuiter.
Same place as four years ago
Because if the animals had not been found so quickly, they would not have survived. Stavenuiter immediately had to think back to February 2018, when dumped guinea pigs were also found at exactly the same location. Then things didn’t go well.
“We found 11 frozen guinea pigs and only one alive,” she says. “It turned out to be pregnant, so we were able to save more than we thought. It is bizarre that this is now happening again in the same place.”
Witnesses wanted
The guinea pigs found on Tuesday were significantly more lucky. They have now all been transferred to a reception location of the Cavia Foundation in the South Holland town of Ter Aar, where they are lovingly cared for.
The Animal Aid Foundation is now looking for witnesses who have seen more. The animals were probably dumped between Monday evening 28 February and Tuesday morning 1 March. People who know more can contact the foundation.